1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of air conditioning units and air moving fans, and more particularly to the field of indoor ceiling fans with cooling functions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Air conditioning products and air moving fans are widely used in many homes and offices. The primary purpose of air moving fans is to improve the air circulation, while the primary purpose of air conditioning units is to adjust the temperature and air quality.
There are many different types of air moving fans, including floor fans, table fans, ceiling fans, etc. A typical ceiling fan is suspended below a ceiling of a room and has a motor unit and rotatable blades. There are also many different types of air conditioners, including central units, free stand units, window units, etc. However, there is currently no commercial products that combine an air conditioning unit with a ceiling fan.
The following references are examples of prior art in this field of art:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,612,168 issued to Peterson on Oct. 12, 1971 for “Rotatable Heat Transfer means” discloses a rotatable heat transfer fan having a plurality of radially extending blades secured to a rotatable hub with fluid inlet and outlet passages. A plurality of radially extending heat exchange tubes are spaced from opposite faces of the blades by a plurality of radially spaced fins secured to the blades and the tubes. The inner ends of the tubes are connected to the inlet and outlet passages in the hub whereby a heat exchange fluid may be circulated through the tubes. The outer ends of each tube is fluidly connected to a tubular ring secured to the outer peripheral portions of the blades. The tubular ring defines a circumferentially extending annular fluid passage which equalizes the fluid pressure on all of the tubes. A pump is operable to force fluid through the tubes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,632 issued to Johnson on Jul. 8, 1986 for “Air-Driven Ceiling Fan” (reissued as Re. 33,347 on Sep. 25, 1990) disclose an air-driven ceiling fan which uses air from the duct work system of a home such as the central air-conditioning system to harness that air flow and drive the ceiling fan. The ceiling fan has a plurality of blades which are spaced from the ceiling and upon a common shaft in a horizontal plane. Air flow through the duct work drives a squirrel cage blower which is mounted about a vertical axis so that air flow through the duct work also drives the squirrel cage blower and the ceiling fan.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,374 issued to Harrison on Aug. 8, 1989 for “Temperature Controlling Apparatus” discloses an apparatus for heating or cooling ambient air in the form of a temperature controlling propeller. The apparatus has a plurality of blades arranged around a rotatable hub, the blades carrying cells containing a heat retaining material. The cells are mounted in openings provided in the blades and retained therein. A thermometer may be mounted on the hub to monitor air temperature. The propeller is heated or chilled prior to mounting on a driven shaft. When the propeller is rotated by the shaft, it simultaneously circulates and heats or cools the surrounding air.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,674 issued to Imaiida on Mar. 24, 1992 for “Air Conditioning Apparatus” discloses an air conditioning apparatus with an air conditioner embedded in a ceiling of a room having an air inlet port opening to the room, a heat exchanger and a blower. A duct box is connected to the air conditioner through a blow-off casing provided on the duct box to project air into the room via an air outlet opening to the room. A fan is disposed on a lower portion of the blow-off casing. A diffuser is provided for redirecting conditioning air from a vertical direction to a substantially horizontal direction. The fan is rotatable forward and backward and includes an outer rotor motor and a plurality of blades fixedly attached to an outer peripheral surface of an outer rotor of the motor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,450 issued Chen on Jun. 11, 1996 for “Air-Conditioning Ceiling Fan” discloses an air-conditioning ceiling fan including a body portion provided with an electric motor and a plurality of blades, an evaporator mounted on the body portion, a hollow supporter adapted to be fixedly mounted on a ceiling and having a tubular lower end depending downwardly through the evaporator, a water tray arranged under the evaporator, a condensing case including a compressor, a condenser and an exhaust fan, where the compressor is connected between the condenser and the evaporator via refrigerant pipes, the condenser is connected with the evaporator via refrigerant pipes. There is also provided a connecting pipe connecting the hollow supporter and the condensing case.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,675,986 also issued to Chen on Oct. 14, 1997 for “Air-Conditioning Fan” discloses an air-conditioning fan having a stand, a compressor mounted within the stand, a motor arranged on an upper end of the stand, an impeller fixedly mounted on an output axle of the motor, an evaporator sleeved over the motor, and a condensing case provided with a condenser, an exhaust fan mounted in front of the condenser, and a plurality of air inlets, the condenser being connected with the compressor and the evaporator.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,980 issued to Becker on Oct. 15, 1996 for “Room Air Quality Conditioning System” discloses an air circulation system having an inflow system which includes a tube enclosure or cowl suspended from a ceiling of a room or from a roof above the room. The tube enclosure or cowl is fitted with a ceiling fan. An air supply unit external to the room (e.g., outdoors) includes an in flow fan connected to air supply duct and a variable air volume box having an inlet connected to the air supply duct and an outlet connected to the interior of the tube enclosure or cowl. The system also includes an outflow system which includes an exhaust grill which may be either suspended from the ceiling or be fitted to the wall of the room. An exhaust riser duct is connected to the exhaust grill. An exhaust fan is connected to the outlet from the exhaust riser. The exhaust fan is operated in conjunction with the inflow fan to exhaust, via the outflow system, substantially all the volume of air inflowing thorough the air inflow system into the inside room through the outflow system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,785 issued on Mar. 30, 1999 for “Apparatus For Qualitative And Quantitative Air Management For Ceiling Fans” and U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,820 B1 issued on Jun. 12, 2001 for “Method And Apparatus For Multifunctional Fan” both to Yilamz disclose a ceiling fan having a cooling unit, a heating unit, a filtering device and a secondary multidirectional fan for improving air quality to fulfill users' specific needs for a given area.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,287 issued to Core on Feb. 29, 2000 for “System For Distributing Air Through A Ceiling In A Room” discloses a system for distributing air through an opening in a ceiling into a room, where the ceiling is supported by spaced apart joists or other ceiling structural members, and the air is supplied by a duct located above the ceiling. The system has a plenum having an open top connected to the duct and an open bottom in communication with the ceiling opening. A support bar extends through the plenum and secured at its opposed ends to ceiling structural member. A motor hanger is secured to the support bar. An air diffuser is positioned in communication with the plenum open bottom. A fan motor is supported to the lower end of the motor hanger. A plurality of generally horizontally extending fan blades are attached to and rotated by the motor. Air is passed from the duct through the plenum and diffuser into the room, while the distribution of the air is augmented by the fan blades as rotated by the motor.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,247 issued to Wheeler on Sep. 19, 2000 for “Room Cooling Fan Apparatus” discloses an air circulating fan assembly having a fan motor and fan blades rotated by the motor, a fluid reservoir and a thermoelectric cooler for cooling the water in the reservoir, and ducting associated with the blades to conduct fluid from the reservoir to heat exchange structure rotated to effect heat transfer between air relatively passing the blades and fluid being returned to the reservoir.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,240,247 B1 issued on May 29, 2001 for “Ceiling Fan With Attached Heater And Secondary Fan”, U.S. Pat. No. 6,438,322 B1 issued on Aug. 20, 2002 for “Ceiling Fan With Attached Heater And Secondary Fan”, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,477,321 B2 issued on Nov. 5, 2002 for “Ceiling Fan Room Conditioner With Ceiling Fan And Heater”, all to Reiker, and United States patent application by Reiker for “Ceiling Fan Room Conditioner With Ceiling Fan And Heater” and published on Feb. 21, 2002 with Publication No. US 2002/0021891 A1, all disclose a room conditioner for providing an essentially uniform temperature within a room upon operation of a motor of a ceiling fan. The motor includes a stator supported by a ceiling mounted shaft and a rotor supporting a set of fan blades of the ceiling fan for causing airflow upon energization of the motor. A heating element supported by the shaft and upwardly displaced from the ceiling fan heats air flowing therepast and a secondary fan responsive to the rotor via a sleeve about the shaft draws air past the heating element. Heated air flowing from the heating element is mixed with the airflow caused by operation of the set of fan blades to distribute warmed air uniformly throughout the space of the room wherein the room conditioner is located.
United States patent application by Kosugi et al. for “Ceiling Embedded Type Indoor Unit” and published on Feb. 28, 2002 with Publication No. US 2002/0023455 A1 discloses a ceiling embedded type indoor unit which is reduced in height to provide a compact unit body size and which provides a large cooling/heating capability. The ceiling embedded type indoor unit has two air blowoff posts and embedded in a ceiling comprises a heat exchanger formed in a U-shape with sides of the U-shape being disposed on long sides of a unit body and connected to a header pipe for circulating a coolant at one end of an open side of the U-shape, air blowoff ports disposed to extend from a bottom side the U-shape, and a centrifugal blower disposed aside to the bottom side of the U-shape relative to a substantial center of a length direction of the sides of the U-shape.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,970 B1 issued to Sekiguchi et al. on Apr. 16, 2002 for “Air Conditioner” discloses an air conditioner having a centrifugal blower disposed in a central portion within a casing of an air conditioner main body, a beat exchanger disposed around the centrifugal blower, a heat insulation material for forming blow-off air course disposed between the heat exchanger and an inner wall surface of the casing on the inner wall surface, a panel mounted to a lower end portion of the casing, a suction port formed in a central portion of the panel, and a plurality of blow-off posts formed in side edge portions of the panel. The blow-off air course has a narrow portion configured to enhance a uniformity of a velocity distribution of and air flow in the blow-off air course, the guide comprises an acoustic material, and an air layer is provided between the casing and guide.
United States patent application by Downs et al. for “Turbine Blade Tip Cooling Construction” and published on Jan. 30, 2003 with Publication No. US 2003/0021684 A1 discloses a gas turbine blade with a tip squealer having cooling passages that provide cooling fluid for the cooling of the tip squealer. A first portion of the cooling passages extends from an internal hollow space through an end cap to a tip pocket. A second portion of the cooling passage extends from the end cap in part through the rails of the tip squealer to the tip crown. The second portion is partially bounded by the rail and partially open to the tip pocket.
While various types of air circulating fans with cooling functions have been introduced in the past, there is still a need to design and construct a simple and effective air-conditioned ceiling fan apparatus that can be used as an integral unit and mounted on a ceiling inside of a user's house for providing an optimal indoor air circulating and conditioning result.